JEFF EDELSTEIN: Trenton's Ernie Kovacs was a Tonight Show' host, even if NBC refuses to acknowledge the fact

By
Jeff Edelstein, The Trentonian

Saturday, February 22, 2014

This past Monday night, Jimmy Fallon took to the stage at studio 6B at 30 Rockefeller Center as the host of “The Tonight Show.” In his opening monologue, he quickly referenced the storied history of the show, thanking the hosts who came before him.

“I’m Jimmy Fallon and I’ll be your host — for now. Of course I wouldn’t be here tonight if it weren’t for the previous Tonight Show hosts, so I want to say thank you to Steve Allen, Johnny Carson, Jay Leno, Conan O’Brien — and Jay Leno.”

Cue laughter, applause.

Great move my Fallon, humble move, owing up to his predecessors.

But he missed one.

Now I’m not blaming Fallon — I’m blaming NBC — but the fact remains: Trenton’s own Ernie Kovacs was a host of the show. Not a guest-host, not a one-time host, but an actual host. It was his show on Monday and Tuesday nights for about four months in 1956 and 1957. Steve Allen, the host at the time — his show was called “Tonight starring Steve Allen” — was also given a Sunday night primetime show, and decided the grind of nightly hosting was too much.

So Kovacs took over the desk twice a week. With his own bandleader. And his own title — “Ernie Kovacs Tonight.” And his own logo, with his trademark cigar coming out of the “g” in “tonight.”

So why isn’t Kovacs part of the canon?

“I don’t know,” said Josh Mills, who is in charge of the Kovacs estate. “Maybe it’s for brevity’s sake they’ve glossed this over. I don’t know if it’s revisionist history, or if they don’t have time, but I feel Kovacs should be mentioned.”

Mills is the son of the late Edie Adams, who worked with, and later married, Kovacs. Kovacs — former Trentonian columnist, father of modern comedy — died in Los Angeles in a traffic accident in 1962. For those of you who aren’t up to speed on just how important Kovacs is to the history of television and comedy, know this: He died coming home from a baby shower for Milton Berle’s adopted son. Jack Lemmon ID’d his body. He was at the center of Hollywood. He was the very definition of “local boy made good.” He was, in two words, big time. For real: He literally invented ad-libbing around the set. Invented the talking to the camera thing. Invented drawn-out visual gags. It was him. From David Letterman to Conan O’Brien to Chevy Chase, much of today’s comedy — and for that matter, shows like “Sesame Street” and “Saturday Night Live” and “Jackass” and “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” — can be traced right back to Kovacs.

But he died young, and with his death, much of his legacy went with him. Much of his work was done live, and the masters disappeared.

It wasn’t until Mills took over the Kovacs estate did things start to happen. DVD sets released, retrospectives held. Slowly but surely, Kovacs rightful place in the world of entertainment started taking shape.

Heck, even Fallon recognized him, writing in the New York Daily News last week (and in extension of his opening night monologue) “Thank you Johnny Carson, Steve Allen, Jack Paar, Conan O’Brien, Jay Leno and other giants of late night television like David Letterman, Ernie Kovacs and of course Lorne Michaels. Thank you for paving the way for me to this incredible job that I still can’t quite wrap my mind around.”

Is it possible Fallon simply doesn’t know the direct lineage Kovacs shares with him? I suppose it is. I reached out to Fallon’s publicist, but haven’t heard back yet.

But there’s just no two ways about it: When discussing previous hosts of “The Tonight Show,” you have to include Ernie Kovacs. Shame on NBC for not doing so.